Reminder From Rufus
Hey all!

This will be the last reminder before the first annual Blackoutsabbath
ritual takes place on Saturday, June 21st 2008 from noon to midnight
all over the World. I'm assuming you folks out there haven't been
bombarded with promo concerning the event: this is precisely my
intention! I didn't want to push this project too hard and make it
seem like some kind of media fad. Like the low grade fever that grips
our planet, we need a low grade answer (not necessarily dramatic, but
a CONSTANT reminder) to combat the marathon machinations we are about
to experience, not to mention what we are experiencing right now!
Don't get me wrong, the bigger the gesture the better. Still, any
shift must last and in essence become a solid part of our lives. The
other day I saw some guy on TV (wish I could remember his name)
talking about how it is the simple organisms that survive on this
planet, and that history is laced with examples of species dying out
because they failed to cut back when their habitat required them to.
On one hand it's frightening, but on the other it's possibly a
testament to the greatness of humanity if we act on the fact that we
as a species might actually have to de-evolve in a way in order to
survive. IT'S REVOLUTIONARY, and has never been done in the whole
history of the earth! Still, I would bargain to say that not only the
earth but in fact the entire Universe has never witnessed such a thing
as "human beings" and that even if they can get a bit screwy, our
brains are still our greatest asset. So good luck with your day off,
do what you can, but most of all, keep trying.

Love, Rufus

P.S. This message was pretty dry in terms of the comedy section, so
below I attached a couple of emails, one from my mom and one from Jorn
so you guys can chuckle a bit. (See the following two news posts.) Also, don't forget to visit the site blackoutsabbath.org to get the specifics. Adios!

Reminder From Kate
From Rufus' mother, Kate McGarrigle:

blackoutsabbath:TUNE OUT!!!!! TURN OFF!!!!! DROP IN!!!!! TUNE
OUT all Blackberrys, computers, cell phones etc..TURN OFF all lights
and electrical appliances, host a blackoutsabbath DROP IN: preferably
outdoors...just like the old celebration of the solstice - burning the
fire from sundown to sun up in order to keep the day from dying and
starting anew! In Quebec, we do the St. Jean which is an ancient
Celtic (Breton) celebration...don't use anything ELECTRICAL or
ELECTRONIC.....show your ELECTRONS some love: give them the DAY OFF!
For advice on how to prepare, go to our very own RABBI
SCHLOMO.....whose people have lots of experience (thousands of years)
doing sabbath - how to prepare, what to eat etc...however since this
has nothing to do with WORK, I suggest a hearty BBQ - fire is allowed,
coals are allowed - fun is allowed! NO ELECTRONIC SOURCES OF SOUNDS -
make your own music....beat a drum, strum a guitar, plink a piano,
blow a horn!

Reminder from Jorn
This message from Jorn Weisbrodt has been translated from German:

Heyho fellow Germans,

A new thing is coming from the US again and you will be able to
experience it first hand. It is not the new Sex and the City which is
already so out of date when you watch it and the only new thing about
it is that there are no ads in between but the whole film is a
constant ad, it is not the new Iphone although I am sure there is one
and not the new Ipod that has a bigger music capacity than a person's
average lifetime but it is blackoutsabbath. Yes, you heard right, it
is something that sounds dark and gloomy (something that American were
leaving up to the Europeans in the past) and it comes from the US. It
does sound a little bit like recession and yes, that is also something
new that we have to share. But the great thing is that the new thing
comes with two well known things or better people; Rufus who will be
in Berlin for a while working on something as over as Shakespeare's
Sonnets and me. Blackoutsabbath is on the 21st of June and the only
thing that you have to do to be part of it is: nothing. That sounds
easy so far. You have to make sure though that nothing comes out of
anything that you do or that you need nothing to do what you are
doing. What does this mean? Turn of your power! Create your own
blackout. And yes, it is a Saturday and the 21st of June happens to be
summer solstice, the longest day during the year and in New York there
is the Upper West Side and before I moved to New York my friend
Adriana tried to explain to me all Jewish holidays and now I wish I
would be working for a Jewish company because one gets 13 (yes,
thirteen) holidays more in that culture, so now I am sure you also
understand why it is called Blackoutsabbath. So you must not do
anything that day and must not rely on energy. How is that possible?
How can you get through these frightening 12 hours? By coming to the
party that Corinna, Georg, Rufus and myself are organizing at 7PM. You
have to ring the doorbell that says Diez. Hang on a minute...Ring a
doorbell? No, you can't!

We will come up with a device how we upstairs will notice that you
downstairs want to come up. And you will have to use the stairs
because remember no power, no elevators. Rufus already volunteered
that he will come down each time someone is ringing (let us just call
it that for the ease of the communication sake) because climbing
stairs makes your butt pop out. You cannot use your car or the subway
to get here because everything is not working anymore during a
blackout. You could drive over here before noon and hang around
wasting your time (which would be a good thing to do that day).
Also hitchhiking, subway, even sharing cars with lots of other people
does not work. You could use your horse or other animals that you can
ride on or just a bicycle. Bring a candle (as it does get dark and
again, there is no power for 12 hours) and ideas to talk about what
one can change or wants to change about ones life, consumption and
behavior. We will then write everything down and Rufus has really
relentless fans that give him anything from scarves to brooches to
toys (not THOSE toys) to fridge magnets that will make sure that our
thoughts and ideas will stay with us for a year until the same thing
happens again and we can have new ideas that come out of absolutely
nothing. I wish his fans would also give us more useful things like
new bowls (help, we really need some for cereal in the morning!), a
beautiful day blanket for the bed (and I mean BEAUTIFUL not like the
scarf that he got on April 1st after this one show). I even had to get
my own juicer because I waited for three years and no fan was ready to
give us one.

Why am I in this relationship? But let us stay on the topic.
It would be an honor if you would want to celebrate this evening with
us. It will also be one of the few changes for me to see you again and
vice versa even though after a certain hour we will not see that much
anymore.

Please let me know if you are attending and if you bring someone. You
can only bring one person and that should be the one you have the most
regular sex with (and no sex is not regular).
Lots of love,
Jorn

P.S. And who still did not get what this is about please go to www.blackoutsabbath.org
where this text will end up too probably eventually.

And because this was so much fun here is the same letter in Chinese
(just kidding, but they would actually need this)